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5.0 out of 5 starspost-Grammy musings and why it's worth listening to this album
I wanted to write this review after seeing the Grammys and hearing the grumbles among the many commercial artists and confused public that have never heard of Arcade Fire. With a very well respected fanbase of musicians and fellow artists (okay, so maybe not necessarily among the pop and hip-hop set), it was a bit surprising to see so many blank expressions.

I wanted to write this review after seeing the Grammys and hearing the grumbles among the many commercial artists and confused public that have never heard of Arcade Fire. With a very well respected fanbase of musicians and fellow artists (okay, so maybe not necessarily among the pop and hip-hop set), it was a bit surprising to see so many blank expressions.

I think the most important thing that I can say about this is that music used to mean something more than a top 10 hit, album sales, or branding. Music was not created to target a particular audience or achieve a max level of radio rotation. I love pop and hip-hop music, but when we become so obsessed with the artificial markers of success, we lose something. I think the Grammys did a great job of trying to strip away these markers and understand something about the craft of music and what it means. An album is not a collection of singles. In this, they got the nominations right and Arcade Fire are more than worthy of the accolades.

The Suburbs is a concept album that doesn't try to be a concept album. It effortlessly bounces back and forth between sounds and styles and creates an atmosphere of nostalgia, regret, hope, and longing, that reflects the sonic landscape of 80s-90s 'burbs. I had read the initial press on the album and understood that it was an exploration and expression of growing up in the suburban sprawl. Even as a fan of their previous albums, it took repeated listens to finally get it - now it seems to get even better each time I listen to it.

The album itself is a pure rock and roll album with no tricks or illusions. It's an album crafted from the ground up (written, performed, and produced) by a group of musicians that believe in the music as a medium and a message. No pandering to the lowest common denominator to produce a pop hit or radio friendly single. In my opinion, separating a song out of the album diminishes the whole - you lose the context of album in the same way that reading even the best chapter out of book doesn't really tell you the story.

Some of the best music out there has never been played on the radio or seen a stint on MTV - consider how radio and music video stations get their playlists and what motivates what gets put out there. Are we demanding this music, or are we being fed this music and told all the reasons we like it? The fact that this album broke through the veil of the multi-million dollar machinery of the music industry should tell you something.

Give it a try - whether you traditionally enjoy the genre at all is unimportant. You may just surprise yourself and discover something new about the potential of music.

In "The Suburbs" , their grandiose opus to the love handles to which many great cities succumb, Arcade Fire have conjured a concept album of beautiful odes to modernity, regret, despair and wasting time. From the opening track, through to the final reprise, the theme is tightly woven. Win Butler's lyrics unfold like short stories, each one serving an escapist mandate of looking back to the good old days of childhood, when innocence reigned and change was something that only adults had to deal with. In Suburban War "This town is strange, they built it to change", he forlornly observes that somehow these schemes are all planned out, and we can't escape the future. The future is the foe addressed in many of the songs - in We Used to Wait he sings "Now our lives are changing fast, hope that something pure can last," a common lament in these times of constantly upgrading, renovating and replacing things in our lives that we barely get to know before we throw them away. He also targets the faux authority of hipsters, accusing them in Rococo of "using big words that they don't understand" and "moving towards you with their colors all the same." Sprawl and and Sprawl II serve as bookends to a tale of being overcome by "dead shopping malls that rise like mountains beyond mountains." Butler begins part one with a sorrowful deconstructed tone, but when Régine Chassagne joins in on part two, the beat picks up and takes the form of a Blondie indie-remix, full of keyboards and a cheerful 80's beat. In fact, the keyboard is present on many of the tracks - not overabundant - but providing lush pads, rolling bass lines and symphonic accompaniment.

The Bruce Springsteen comparisons can still be made - certainly a compliment - but if anything Arcade Fire push their instrumentation in an unexpected direction at every turn. A real musical dissonance is evident right from the outset in the title track. Melodic strumming guitars and piano are met with sorrowful strings and a Neil Young Mirrorball-era lead guitar part, underlining the uncomfortable realization that "I can't believe it, I'm moving past the feeling." The orchestrations are richly constructed, layered up and stripped back down with the rise and fall of each song's story-line. The anthem quality is present in a number of the 16 tracks - which will surely be appreciated by fans of their live shows.

I think it's great. It's simple, it makes me happy I grew up in the suburbs. It makes me proud. It's a slight step aside from their last albums, which is a good thing. Instead of trying to beat the amazing Funeral, they just went another direction.

We live in a community which is about to decide whether to protect its rural character, tourism potential, and agricultural productivity, or to throw it all away by giving free rein to outside developers of substandard housing, ugly strip malls, and uncontrolled urban sprawl, so the emotions and insights triggered by the lyrics of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" ring very true for us.

Add to this the fact that Sarah Neufeld, the band's brilliant violinist, grew up in farm country just north of our town on Vancouver Island, and the album's message becomes even more relevant and personal. I'm not sure how much input she has to the Butler brothers' writing process, but suspect that as a Merville girl she agrees with the thrust of their lyrics.

From the outset, Arcade Fire has been a band capable of sensuous and creative musical textures supported by multi-instrumental prowess and driving rhythms, and with "The Suburbs" they have generated even more aural appeal than "Neon Bible", which was a ground-breaking accomplishment sonically.

I highly recommend "The Suburbs" for anyone who appreciates a band that has achieved a convincing balance of musicality, creativity, and message. The reasonable ticket prices and superb performances at their concerts make Arcade Fire even more admirable. For a sample, check Google for a link to the webcast of their recent Madison Square Garden concert.

I'm just catching up w suburbs Dec 2013 ; I've played the Cd four times and similar to best albums out there from musicians who can actually play instruments and write their own lyrics and music, the album is proving to get richer w every listen.

This album is probably the best album I have listened to that was released in the 21st century. Yes, it is that good. Every song on it flows and they all follow the same theme, bringing out all sorts of different emotions and even musical genres, ranging from indie rock (I consider that its own genre) to electro-rock from the 80s. I read somewhere that the influences from this album are Neil Young and Depeche mode mostly, and it really shows. That isn't to say that this album isn't wholly original on its own. I have not heard an album as original in my life since Funeral, which I may say this album surpasses. One reviewer for this album called it Arcade Fire's OK Computer, but is better than OK Computer. I fully agree. Enjoy this album while it lasts.